TTC Lens
By meeting people's expectations seamlessly, we establish trust. With that trust, it's possible to provide a streamlined experience that simultaneously fosters a greater understanding of privacy and data.
At Design Jams around the world, TTC Labs has explored different ways in which we might establish this trust: presenting information up-front, on demand, and in context.
Lens snapshot
Behind the scenes, digital services can be (very) complicated.
Services try to make these complicated technical features feel simple and easy.
Think about how many decisions we make whenever we start using a new service.
Some of those decisions are easier to make than others
This creates some tension.
We all want simple, friendly, easy-to-use digital services while also understanding exactly what data we'll be offering in exchange.
How do we design for both?
How can we signpost the road to understanding, while still quickly getting people where they want to go?
Here’s one way of thinking about how we can structure data and privacy information throughout the user experience:
Imagine you're going on a road trip...
...but you get all the directions before you even turn the engine on.
This is what often happens with digital services. We’re asked to absorb a lot of information up front.
And while it’s great to be informed, we’re often just impatient to get going.
Now imagine this:
You're driving to your destination.
But you start feeling a little unsure about the route, so you pull over to check the map.
In digital services, the settings menu gives us some on-demand control over what data we're sharing and how it's being used.
But we don't go to the settings menu everyday. It can be hard to find, difficult to understand, and – frankly – just not a priority.
Now, imagine that you're driving and you're using the street signs to navigate.
This is really useful, because you're getting the right information at the right time.
And imagine how useful it would be if those signs were aware of what you were trying to do and able to respond?
Design that understands our context means we’re forced to learn less, but can understand more.
In digital services, presenting data and privacy information in context, alongside the main experience, can help us make more informed choices.
So here's three ways that digital services can embed a data disclosure moment into the main experience.
Up front
Immediate disclosure should be the simplest and most straightforward, in theory. It gives people the clearest choice.
But upfront disclosure isn't always as helpful as you'd think. People are already overloaded with new information and want to get going.
On demand
A settings menu can feel like an easy solution, but the accessibility and discoverability make it challenging.
This option asks people to go out of their way, requiring a level of expertise and knowledge in order to engage.
In context
By offering assistance in context, we can embed learning moments wherever they're most relevant. Technical execution can be more complex, yes–but it means we can truly help people navigate their path.
Designing for context requires multiple degrees of consideration, yes. But when done well, we can educate people through a compelling educational experience.
TTC LENS Leveraging Context in Design
Here are some ways product designers, privacy experts and policy makers have been exploring the problems, with TTC Labs.
Top
Context is fluid. Over a two-year window, a teenager's self-perception changes dramatically–and so does the way they interact with an app. How should a digital service cater for this evolution?
Read more in this report from design agency Normally
Read moreWho do young people trust? What are the most engaging ways to present dense information about legal processes? Where are touchpoints in the community where young people find the most trustworthy legal options?
Traditional legal approaches don't always think about context, engagement, or human experience.
Read more about why the law itself needs design.
Read morePeople often object to signing an "all-or-nothing" deal up front. That is, they don't like giving consent to ongoing data access without seeing any evidence of trustworthiness or the potential value exchange.
How can we change this? Consent can be gathered continuously in different contexts. And if a person is unhappy with the value exchange, they can withdraw access, too.
Read moreThroughout the user experience, we should consider every interaction as an opportunity to provide education and/or control. Data settings are too often confined to the onboarding flow when, in reality, engagement increases dramatically when controls appear contextually and evolve over time.
Read more about designing contextual settings as a business opportunity.
Read moreRichard Gomer
Research Fellow at the University of Southampton
Read moreRomain Bessuges-Meusy
CEO of Axeptio.
Read moreFlorian Schaub
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Think your design is transparent? Take a look at the context in which your data use notices are delivered.
Learn more by trying our exercise from the TTC Toolkit.
Read moreTTC Labs
Data & Education Report
Read moreTTC LENS Leveraging Context in Design
These design prototypes demonstrate how Design Jam participants have designed for trust, transparency and control.
Top
Paris 4th Dec 2017
The user experience can deteriorate when key features won't work without access to local and global settings, which are often controlled at the operating system level.
By cultivating trust across multiple contact points, this solution explores how to put people in control of their data with an easily discoverable central hub for all data permissions.
Learn moreSão Paulo 25th Aug 2017
Location-based services need to work harder to build trust because of people's natural hesitation to share this kind of data.
This solution creatively explains exactly what location data is being used, and why, at any point in the flow that requires that information.
Learn moreDublin 14th Nov 2017
The way apps engage with people about data use can be somewhat cold and formal. Moreover, people are asked to provide consent up front, before they can evaluate the trustworthiness and usefulness of the service.
This solution examines how to educate people in a visual way to illustrate how sharing data might be a worthwhile value exchange.
Learn moreFurther reading